need a new monitor.

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I have an 18" viewable viewsonic CRT and was taking a look at prices and monitors at stores. Wide-screen is the way to go, And 22" seems like the bare minimum to get cause of price, and it's hard to find anything bigger with a 2ms responce time. so what Monitor do you guys suggest I buy? And what is your opinion on MagicBright/glossy screens. It seems like they are the new thing and offer better color and quality. But as a gamer I really don't like a glossy surface reflecting everything. some people say they are better others find it to be a gimmick.

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My only concern with an LCD in gameplay is what happens when you downsize your game resolution for greater speed. I can handle most games within the last year at 1280x1024 or 1600x1200, but eventually there'll be ones I can't run smoothly at high-res, and as I understand LCDs have fixed resolutions, which means you can't stretch the image back to fullscreen (at least without some awful pixel-duplication methods).

I also wonder how widescreens handle standard fullscreen games.

I have a Samsung SyncMaster 19" desktop monitor and it sucks, it's the absolute worst monitor I've ever used, and it cost more than the best monitor I've ever used, but it seems they've made good steps forward in the display scene over the last 6 years, especially with LCDs (provided you get the actual Samsung models and not third-party versions).

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Usually the monitor stretches the image to fill up the screen. Not always the best choice. The video card can also do the scaling instead of the monitor, provided the monitor is connected to the video card by DVI. Depending on the video card, it can also stretch the image across the entire screen, apply no scaling (so any image with a resolution less than that of the LCD's native resolution will have black bars on all four sides), or apply fixed aspect ratio scaling (stretches the image while maintaining aspect ratio. The result is that there are black bars on the sides of the image). The last option is the best, although the image will still suffer from some blurriness.

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Ignore manufacturer's specs, there are no standards and the ones with the best specs on paper usually end up being the worst. Reviews are king in the world of LCD's.

Knowledge is power. That anardtech link will tell you everything you need to know about LCD's and even what their top picks are at that particular moment. I got a ViewSonic VP930b a few years ago based on their recommendation and couldn't be happier.

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Hey Shapeless, my advice if you're after a quality display (after some years of research):

1. Avoid TN displays, and go for PVA or MVA. TN is the cheapest and has the fastest response times, but the worst quality. S-IPS has the best quality, but is expensive and requires proper colour calibration for good results. PVA/MVA is a good compromise.

2. Remember that some Samsung displays utilise an "Overdrive" chip to "improve" colour quality, but this has the effect of introducing a response lag due to this intermediary image processing (a delay between your movement of the mouse for example, and the cursor on the screen). Seek out reviews on Amazon to check for this.

3. Manufacturers are known to change panel technologies in any given product range without notifying consumers. They will typically use good-quality panels initially so that their display receives good reviews, then swap it out with a crappy TN panel later on to reduce costs, this is known as the "panel lottery". Be sure to do some forum searches for the model you are interested in to guard against this.

4. If colour is important to you, ensure the display is capable of 8-bit colour, not 6-bit. This will typically be indicated by mention of "16.7 million colours" in the specifications, as opposed to some lower value such as "16.3". 6-bit panels need to use dithering on their smaller colours pallete to attempt to approximate a given tone. As I understand it, TN panels are usually 6-bit.

5. Backlight bleed. Some displays will not do a very good job of sealing their edges from the luminecent backlight behind the panel, resulting in an over-abundance of lighting in those areas. Viewed on a black screen, this bleeding creates visible white or coloured patches on the sides or corners of the display. This is most noticable in movies and dark games. Again, look for several good technical reviews on your preferred monitor.

6. Glossy screens. I would avoid these personally. As you have said, glare is a big issue. I believe these glossy screens are mainly a gimmick, and something to consider is that they are never used in professional displays, only very consumer-orientated ones. Yes they may appear in some cases to increase the vibrance of colours, but I believe this is purely artificial, and a high quality non-glossy display will show colours far more accurately and correctly.

7. Brands. Avoid the likes of Acer, Benq, AOC etc. I recommend Viewsonic, HP, LG, and perhaps Lenovo (formerly IBM). NEC, LaCie, and EIZO are the professional class, expensive, but the best. Samsung I would hesitate on at this point due to the Overdrive issue described above.

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I totally agree on this one. After having to use TFTs for a long period due to army work, I found my CRT superior in almost every aspect: color rendering and smoothness, image color stability, lack of visible pixelation at typical desktop resolutions (BTW, I'm not a fan of ultra-high resolutions in games, and I do play a lot of MAME/DOSBOX games, so I really need resolution flexibility).

A thing I found little mention of in LCD reviews is the quality of the backlight and the presence or less of pixel noise(!). Some TFTs just have a nasty 50/60 Hz fluorescent backlight which just sends decades of CRT refresh rates evolution down the drain. Also, very few TFT monitors mention the longevity of the backlight or have a counter for it, and a 3-year "zero pixel" warranty is still considered premium...that's clearly the recipe for a product that's not meant to last more than 2-3 years (this applies to many other consumer electronics/IT products, unfortunately). I can't help but compare this with some SVGA monitors from the 90s I've still got and work perfectly.

Pixel noise is another beast though. Yeah, that's right, I saw pixel noise/"snow" comparable to an analog TV broadcast on more than one TFT monitor, especially on dark tones: if you look close, you will see the pixels "dancing" as they flicker to some imprecise color. To the TFTs defense, I've only seen this on cheap TFT monitors with analog-only connectors and 6-bit depth per color (which unfortunately means most monitors below 300$).

I'm currently using a Syncmaster 979 19" CRT, and I'm quite positive that no TFT near its price tag can actually outperform it. I'd take a quality CRT over a bulk TFT anyday, if I could get hold of a CRT, that is! Most TFTs under 500$ are crap, don't bother with them.

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Ditto. I like my blacks to be black and whites white thanks (plus refresh rates which means emulating consoles would be perfectly synced without stutter, which I can't stand on all the computer LCD monitors i've used)

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Thanks for all the advise, And sorry for the late replay.
Trilinear I've got a lot of research and homework to do caue I don't understand most of what you said. I think I'm going to have to spend more then 300 bucks for something decent like someone else mentioned.